Senate looks to a swift trial against Trump

Senators say a historic second impeachment for former President TrumpDonald Trump Twitter Permanently Suspends Account of Founder of Gateway Pundit Wyoming Republican Party Condemns Cheney Over Vote Over Trump’s Impeachment Trump Access to Intelligence Briefings Will Be Determined by Officials, White House Says could only take a matter of days, in what develops into a rapid process.

Leader of the majority of the Senate Charles SchumerChuck Schumer Over 60 progressive groups urge Schumer to ignore filibuster Booker is reintroducing the bill to give all newborns 000 savings accounts. Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Blumenauer aim to require Biden to declare the climate emergency MORE (DN.Y.) and minority leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Republicans Try To Pummel Democrats Over School Reopenings GOP Blames White House Staff For Lack Of COVID-19 Emergency Aid The Memo: Bad Jobs Report Boosts Biden Stimulus Case (R-Ky.) Trying to negotiate another deal on the organization of the trial, which opens Tuesday.

But senators say they want to fix it quickly, suggesting it could take about a week. While the Democrats argue that Trump’s trial is necessary, they are also focusing their political energies on passing coronavirus aid.

“I just can’t imagine it taking longer than a week,” said Sen. Kevin CramerKevin John Cramer GOP Blames White House Staff For Lack Of COVID-19 Emergency Response Little-Known Senate Referee To Play Key In Biden’s Contingency Plan OMB Nominee To Be Heared Feb.9 (RN.D.). “I don’t think there is much enthusiasm in anyone for this thing.”

Her. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott Murphy Sunday Show Preview: Budget Resolution Clears Path to 0.9 Trillion Stimulus; Senate Prepares For Impeachment Trial Five Things You Need To Know About Biden’s Relocation In Yemen Why School Nurses Are Essential To Ending The Pipeline From School To Prison MORE (D-Conn.), Asked about his own preference regarding the length of the trial, said, “I don’t think it should take more than a week.”

“A few days for each side would be enough,” he added.

Her. Tom CarperThomas (Tom) Richard Carper Five takeaways from Senate Budget Marathon Names First Black Senate Secretary The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented By Facebook – White House Takes On Climate Change In Today’s Executive Orders MORE (D-Del.), A close ally of President Biden, said the process should take “days”.

“The trial is not something that should take months or weeks. Days. Days. And then we can come back to get this administration team in place, ”Carper told reporters.

The agreement McConnell and Schumer sought would provide a timeline for the first phase of the trial, including opening arguments from both the House impeachment managers and Trump’s lawyers.

If the Senate does not vote to call witnesses, the trial could close quickly with possible senatorial motions, deliberations on the charges, closing arguments, and then a vote on whether or not to convict Trump for serious crimes and felonies.

The House impeachment managers invited Trump to testify, a request that his lawyers rejected. Democrats have not yet said whether they will ask for additional witnesses to be called.

Trump’s initial trial lasted 21 days and was the shortest trial against presidential impeachment at the time. The trial of then President Clinton lasted 37 days and the trial of President Johnson in 1868 lasted 83 days.

Structurally, the upcoming trial will be different, which could speed it up. The Senate has already been sworn in as a jury and Sen. Patrick LeahyPatrick Joseph LeahyHarris Casts First Tie-Breaking Votes As Senate Vice President Names First Black Secretary of Senate Democrats Resolution Denouncing White Supremacists Ahead of Trump Trial MORE (D-Vt.) Has been sworn in as chairman.

Republicans have also cast one vote on the process – on whether or not it was constitutional – although GOP senators have warned they can enforce a similar vote against it once the process gets underway.

And while attempts to extend the trial by Republicans could consume days early in Biden’s presidency, top caucus members would rather simply end the process.

What we hear is that the Dems, at least the regular Dems, say they don’t want to drag it. Most of them want to work on other things. … So it seems that both parties are mutually interested in a shorter lawsuit, ”Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneHouse Votes To Kick Greene Out Of Commissions For Embracing Conspiracy Theories Republicans Try To Take Offense In Vote-a-rama The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented By Facebook – Cheney Holds Leadership Post; Greene seems to be punishing MORE (SD), the No. 2 Republican Senator, told The Hill, wondering if that opened the door to wrap it up by the first weekend after the trial began.

A senior GOP senator predicted that the trial could be done on Friday or Saturday as soon as possible because “that’s probably what both sides want to do.”

Under the rules package for Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial, both sides had 24 hours over three days to present their case. Senators then had two days to ask questions.

McConnell, then the majority leader, initially planned to give both sides a two-day piece to open up arguments, but eventually backed out after a bipartisan howl. Had the House impeachment managers or Trump’s legal team wanted to use them full time, it could have resulted in 12-hour sessions.

If the Senate enforces the same deal for Trump’s second trial, it would guarantee that it takes at least eight days, giving back time to absent House impeachment managers, the former president’s legal team, or senators themselves.

But senators are also treading largely uncharted territory as they prepare for a second impeachment trial for Trump, the first president to have gone through the trial twice. It will also be the first time a trial will be held against a former president and the first time that the chief justice has not chaired presidential impeachment proceedings.

The single article on impeachment against Trump also cites largely public events, including the President’s Jan. 6 speech calling on his supporters to march to the Capitol, where then Vice President Pence and members of Congress celebrate Biden’s Electoral victory. College were counting.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Told CNN the trial will be short due to the clear story.

“It will be a short trial. It will be open and closed and quite straightforward evidence consisting of what he said earlier in his tweets to invite and beg these people to come to the Capitol, ”said Blumenthal.

That’s a shift from 2020 when the articles had to familiarize complicated foreign policy, a long list of players and lawmakers as well as the American people with a largely unknown and complicated storyline.

“This is a fairly limited set of facts. It’s a narrow article. … We are not voting to remove a presidency so I am not sure if there are any other precedents from previous trials, ”said Murphy.

Cramer, asked about precedent, said he didn’t think that much time was needed, adding, “I don’t know why it would take so long.”

Another motivating factor for a quick lawsuit looms over lawmakers: the week’s recess on Presidents Day. It’s the Senate’s first hiatus in 2021 and comes just before the chamber is expected to move at lightning speed to try and get a coronavirus package to Biden’s office before federal unemployment benefits expire in mid-March.

“Supporting the Presidents Day recess is one reason I think we will get it done, and I think that will likely be a motivating factor for both parties,” said Thune.

Her. Tim KaineTimothy (Tim) Michael Kaine About the money: Biden indicates he will continue with COVID-19 without GOP | Economy adds 49,000 jobs in January | Minimum wage push sparks Democratic discord Minimum wage push sparks Democratic discord Senators vet Boston Mayor Walsh for Labor Secretary MORE (D-Va.) Stated that the Senate could be in session in part, but not before the entire hiatus, which would still bring the trial to around the one-week timeline since the trial begins Tuesday.

“It sounds like both parties want it to be fairly short,” said Kaine. “So they think we can take a little break.”